


Strange Things

by tayryn



Category: Shipping News (2001)
Genre: Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, Female Relationships, Femslash, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-31
Updated: 2013-11-09
Packaged: 2017-12-31 00:27:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1025173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tayryn/pseuds/tayryn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“It’s a place like no other.  The people who came here came by accident.  Those that stayed learned strange things can happen; omens… and restless spirits.  Magic…”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

Agnis woke with a start.

“Irene…” she whispered into the darkness, her heart aching as the remnants of her dream continued to wrap around her.

She’d been back in the hospital.

Back in that tiny grey room, watching the love of her life fight a losing battle with the cancer that had invaded her beautiful body.

Agnis shuddered, untangled herself from the blankets, and climbed out of her bed. She grabbed her – Irene’s – robe, slipped it on, then crept quietly down the small hall past Quoyle and Bunny’s rooms. Escaping outside, Agnis made her way in the bright moonlit night, to the rocky cliff, and hunkered down near the spot she’d found and claimed as her own back when she was but a small child.

She was not surprised that she’d dreamt of Irene. Her conversation with Quoyle earlier in the day, coupled with it being the anniversary of Irene’s passing, had made her dream inevitable.

Agnis sighed deeply.

She looked out over the water through the darkness, and whispered Irene’s name again. “I miss you, sweetheart.”

“I miss you, too.”

At the familiar voice, Agnis slowly turned to look over her shoulder. “Irene…” she exhaled a shaky breath, tears welling in her eyes as she lifted a trembling hand. She bit back a sob when the vision before her did not disappear.

“Hi, baby,” Irene smiled as she nuzzled her cheek into Agnis’ hand.

Agnis trailed her fingers over Irene’s face. Unlike in her dream, the beloved face before her was full and healthy. The thought that she might be dreaming, or simply seeing things, flashed through her mind, and then was quickly dismissed. If she was dreaming, or even hallucinating, Agnis did not care. Besides, a little voice whispered in her head, this was Killick-Claw… things like this happened.

“Six years…”

“I know.”

“I think about you every day.”

“I know.”

“It’s not fair.”

“I know.”

“We were supposed to have a long, happy life together.”

“I know.”

Agnis gave her a look, and Irene chuckled as she continued to nestle into Agnis’ touch.

“Life has no guarantees, you know that.”

Agnis nodded reluctantly. “I know.”

They held each other’s eyes.

“You need to let go, baby.”

Agnis shook her head. “I can’t. I… I’m not ready.”

“It’s been six years, Agnis. You told Quoyle yourself, it takes a year to get over losing someone.”

“I lied. Besides, he needed to be told that. He’s a good man, our nephew, not like his father, but he does need to grow a pair.”

Irene laughed.

The deep, pure laugh that Agnis loved so much, and that had never failed to send a flurry of butterflies loose in the pit of her stomach.

Unable to resist the sight of her lover’s eyes twinkling merrily, and the happy smile dancing over her lips, Agnis leaned in and pressed an almost chaste kiss to Irene’s mouth. A surge of longing so deep, so profound, rent its way through Agnis’ heart when Irene returned the gentle pressure that it brought fresh tears to her eyes.

With a soft sob, Agnis lifted her lips from Irene’s and rested her forehead against the other woman’s.

“How can you ask me to let you go?” she asked, her voice hitching on the words. “I can’t do it, Irene. I can’t. I’m not that strong.”

“But you are, Agnis. You are that strong. In fact your strength is one of the first things that attracted me to you.”

Agnis shook her head. “No…”

“Yes,” Irene insisted as she cupped Agnis’ face in both of her hands then gently pulled her head back and looked into her eyes. “Look at everything you’ve been through, everything you’ve survived; Guy, the baby…” Agnis’ eyes misted as she felt Irene’s thumb stroke her cheek. “And, now you’ve come back here to face that past. You got back at Guy… in your usual unique style.”

Agnis felt her cheeks flame, even as Irene’s eyes danced with amusement.

“Now, it’s time to look forward, my love. It’s time to move on with your life, to build a future, just as you are trying to help Quoyle do.”

“I have no future without you,” Agnis replied. “I told you, I’m not that strong. I’ve only existed these last six years and only barely at that.”

“You’ve done more than existed, you’ve survived. And now it’s time for you to live again…” Irene placed her finger over Agnis’ lips to stop her. “I am always with you, Agnis. Always. And, I will be even when you find love again.”

“There will never be anyone else,” Agnis whispered against Irene’s finger. “There could never be.”

“But there will be,” Irene said, giving her a tender smile. “That’s why I’m here, baby. To tell you it’s time to open your heart again.”

Agnis shook her head, blinking a fresh set of tears. “I… I can’t…”

“Oh, Agnis…” Irene leaned her forehead against hers once again. “You can, that’s what you don’t understand. You have such a loving, generous nature, sweetheart. I will always be in your heart, you know that. I know that. But there is room for another. And she’s here.”

Agnis lifted her head with a start, and asked in a wary voice. “What do you mean she’s here? Who is she?”

Irene gave her an enigmatic smile. “She lives in town. I am not allowed to tell you who she is, however, I can tell you that you have already met her.”

Agnis quickly did a mental count of everyone she’d met since coming home to Killick-Claw, old and new faces alike. Only one person had sparked Agnis’ interest, and then only just enough for Agnis to have noticed her, but she quickly dismissed the idea as foolish. No one else after that – no woman – jumped to mind. “I…”

“Agnis, you just have to trust me. She’s here. When the time is right, she’ll make herself known to you.” Irene traced her finger around her ear. “She’s healing, too.”

Agnis frowned. She was not interested in helping some wounded bird heal. She wasn’t completely healed herself, for pity’s sake.

“You will help each other,” Irene told her in a quiet voice.

“How did…?” Agnis shook her head at the small smirk on Irene’s face. “Never mind.”

“Just keep an open mind, sweetheart.”

Agnis sighed, then finally nodded. “I’ll try.”

“That’s all I ask.” Irene cupped her cheek once more, then leaned in, and brushed a light kiss to her lips.

Not willing to leave it at that, needing and wanting more, Agnis grasped Irene’s face in her hands and deepened the kiss. She moaned when Irene parted her lips and drew her tongue into her mouth.

“It’s time for me to go, Agnis,” Irene whispered into the kiss.

“No…” Agnis kissed her again. “No… not yet,” she murmured against Irene’s lips. “Please, Irene, not yet. It’s been six years,” she pleaded in between desperate kisses. “I’ve missed you so much…”

A soft smile played across Irene’s lips, and she slowly nodded, then closed the distance between them again.

“Thank you,” Agnis murmured, and a soft sob of relief escaped her before she kissed Irene hungrily. Six years of pent up longing fueled the kiss as she leaned in, and pressed her body firmly against the other woman’s.

They tumbled back onto the cool grass, and Agnis moaned at the feel of Irene’s soft body beneath hers. She felt Irene’s hands clutch at her hips, and pull her closer. She went willingly, pressing her hips into the cradle of Irene’s thighs then propped herself up on her elbows, and framed her face in her hands.

Agnis gazed down at her lover.

Irene’s face was flushed and glowing; her eyes bright and filled with so much emotion it took Agnis’ breath away. The sight made her eyes water, and her heart ache. She stroked Irene’s jaw with her thumbs. What she wouldn’t give for this to be real, for Irene to be real. Agnis wanted Irene alive, healthy, and with her now and for every moment in the future.

And, if Agnis couldn’t have that, she wanted to be dead, too, just as she’d wanted to be six years ago when she held Irene in her arms when she drew her last breath.

“…Agnis…”

Irene’s husky voice called to her. Agnis blinked away the bleak thoughts and focused on the woman who still held her heart.

“Make love to me.” Irene arched under her, rubbing their clothed bodies together.

Agnis lowered her head, and brushed her lips over Irene’s. “Yes…” she kissed her fully, deeply, and with a need that bordered on desperation. “Oh, yes…”

Soft moans echoed between them the moment their tongues met, and the nature of the kiss changed. It became a tender, loving exploration matching the gentle rocking of their bodies. After several long moments, Agnis pulled her lips from Irene’s. Their eyes met as they panted for breath.

Agnis shifted her upper body to the side and began to unbutton Irene’s shirt. Her fingers shook, afraid that at any moment, Irene would disappear, leaving her alone and heartbroken once again.

“Stop thinking, Agnis,” Irene whispered, and reached between them to tug on the tie of the thick brown robe. “Let’s not waste this time we have, sweetheart.”

Agnis nodded, and made quick work of the remaining buttons. Seconds later, she pushed the sides of Irene’s soft blue flannel shirt open to reveal two perfectly formed breasts encased in a black lacy bra.

A slow smile filled Agnis’ face as she reached out and traced her finger along the lacy edge. Irene had always been partial to the fancier bras and panties, while Agnis preferred her tried and true cotton undergarments.

“I’ve always loved you in the black lace,” Agnis murmured, as she began to circle Irene’s hardening nipple through the material.

“I know…” Irene gasped, arching into her touch.

“Love it,” Agnis repeated as she lowered her head to take Irene’s nipple into her mouth, and suckled her through the lace. The low moan of approval from her lover made Agnis smile around the hard tip caught between her teeth. As she continued to tease the sensitive peak with tongue and teeth, Agnis slipped her hand beneath the lace of the bra covering Irene’s other breast and cupped the bare flesh. With her free hand, Agnis reached out and unhooked her bra, thankful Irene favoured front closures.

With a final teasing nip, Agnis released Irene’s nipple and raised her head to meet her eyes as she pushed the lacy cups aside. A slow smile spread across her face when she lowered her eyes to take in the sight of Irene’s now bared breasts, and watched her nipples peak even more in the cool night air.

Agnis circled Irene’s nipples once again, her touch light and teasing, before she leaned down and took one of the hard tips in her mouth and sucked hard.

“Oooh… yes…” Irene hissed, and clutched at Agnis’ head.

Agnis grinned as she released the sensitive point, and nipped a trail along the underside of Irene’s breasts. She licked and bit at the full mounds, then took her other nipple between her teeth. She tugged gently on the taut flesh before she drew it fully into her mouth and suckled lovingly.

As she continued to feast on Irene’s breasts, Agnis slid her hand down the smooth skin of her stomach. She made quick work of the button and zipper on her jeans, pushed the soft denim down a little, and slipped her hand inside to cup Irene’s sex.

Agnis lifted her head to meet Irene’s gaze as she began to stroke the soft, swollen flesh. Smooth and hairless, Agnis’ fingers glided easily over the pliant lips of her pussy, dipping between them to delve into the slick cream of her arousal.

She thrust them in and out of her lover several times before drawing them out to circle Irene’s clit. “So wet,” Agnis moaned as she pressed them back inside. “So hot.”

“Agnis,” Irene reached up, grabbed the back of Agnis’ head and pulled her down for a hungry kiss. As they kissed, Agnis felt Irene begin to push at the bulky robe she wore. “This needs to come off!” Irene yanked her mouth from Agnis’ to order her breathlessly. “Now! Take it off, Agnis!”

Agnis grinned down at her suddenly impatient lover and eased her fingers out of the hot, wet warmth they were encased in, and then out from Irene’s jeans. She held up the slick digits, watched them glimmer in the moonlight before putting them in her mouth. Agnis groaned as she cleaned Irene’s juices from her fingers, the familiar flavour bursting over her taste buds.

“You taste so good,” Agnis whispered when she pulled her fingers from her mouth. She leaned down, her lips hovering over Irene’s and whispered, “I’ve missed it so much.”

“I know,” Irene replied and lifted her head to brush her lips against Agnis’ before curving them into a coy smile. She pushed at the collar of the robe once more. “Lose the robe, baby.”

Agnis chuckled, and with another quick kiss, rose up onto her knees. As she did, Irene shifted to kneel in front of her, and reached out to help guide the robe down her arms. Once it was off, they spread it out on the ground beside them. 

“Now,” Irene told her, her eyes dark with desire as she reached out and began to unbutton the flannel pyjama top Agnis wore, “the rest.”

“I agree wholeheartedly,” Agnis replied as, she too, reached out and pushed Irene’s open shirt off her shoulders, and down her arms. The black, lacy bra quickly followed. Unable to resist, Agnis reached out and cupped Irene’s breasts. She rubbed her thumbs over the hard nipples, and lowered her head to take one of the berried tips into her mouth, but Irene stopped her.

Without saying a word, Irene grabbed Agnis’ hands and guided them down to her jeans, then reached out to push at Agnis’ pyjama bottoms.

Agnis grinned.

They quickly removed the rest of their clothing, and moved back into each other’s arms, moaning softly as their breasts pressed together without any barrier. 

“I love you,” Agnis whispered against Irene’s lips.

“I love you,” Irene whispered back.

They kissed tenderly as they slowly lowered themselves down onto the robe. Agnis lay back as Irene stretched out over her. From breasts to thighs, she reveled in the feeling of Irene covering her like a blanket, and moaned when she felt her lover slip her leg between her thighs and press the limb tight against her pussy.

Agnis returned the favour as she grasped Irene’s hips and pulled her down hard onto her own thigh. She groaned at the hot, wet trail Irene left against her skin, as she began to move on her.

“That’s it, sweetheart,” Agnis encouraged Irene as she started to rock faster, circling her hips and driving herself against Agnis’ thigh. Agnis lifted her hips into her lover’s thrusts, rubbing her pussy hard against Irene’s thigh in a bid for her own release. 

“…Agnis…” Irene gasped as she began to move faster.

Agnis grunted with pleasure at the rush of moisture against her thigh as Irene came, and felt an answering surge from within her own sex as she followed her lover into orgasm. She gasped Irene’s name as Irene collapsed on top of her; their bodies shuddering with release.

Irene raised her head and, gave Agnis a radiant smile, which Agnis returned, then ducked down to brush a quick kiss to her lips. Her lips glided down Agnis’ throat, pausing to nibble at her collarbone before slipping lower to bury her face in the valley between Agnis’ breasts.

Agnis smiled when Irene cupped her breasts and pressed them against the sides of her face, then moaned when she gently bit, then laved the smooth skin with her tongue. She loved when Irene did that… always had.

“I love your breasts…” Irene murmured, her lips feathering over every inch of the large mounds before taking a hard nipple between her teeth, nipping it lightly then sucking it fully into her mouth.

“…mmm…” Agnis hummed her pleasure, and arched under her lover. She reached out, her fingertips fluttering against Irene’s temple as she alternated between - nibbling, sucking and biting - both breasts, and then with a wink, began to move lower.

Agnis sucked her stomach in when Irene’s lips lighted over it, her cheeks colouring slightly as Irene’s soft chuckle reached her ears. She looked down her body to see Irene smiling up at her, her eyes dancing merrily.

“Still ticklish, I see,” Irene murmured against her skin, and nipped playfully at her belly.

“Yes…” Agnis hissed even as she laughed softly, and wriggled under the other woman. She cried out suddenly when she felt Irene’s mouth close over her pussy. “Irene!”

Irene hummed as she played her tongue over Agnis’ clit, dipped it down into the wet heat below, then back up. She licked, and licked, and licked the sensitive bundle of nerves until Agnis was writhing on the ground, moaning her name.

Agnis clutched at Irene’s head, her fingers fisting in the dark blonde hair as she fought the urge to come. She was not ready to give in to her release, knowing deep in her heart that their time together was drawing to a close… that Irene would, once again, be gone.

“Agnis… sweetheart…”

Agnis blinked as she realized that Irene’s mouth was no longer on her, and that the blonde was looking up at her, her lips and chin shining in the moonlight.

Their eyes met, and Agnis’ hands fell from Irene’s hair.

“Everything is going to be all right,” Irene said quietly as she traced her fingers up and down Agnis’ swollen folds. “Stop thinking about it…” she told her as she pressed two of her fingers deep inside Agnis’ pussy, and began to slowly move them in and out.

Agnis moaned.

“Just enjoy, baby.”

Agnis could see the love she’d missed, and yearned, for the last six years, swimming in Irene’s beautiful green eyes; the same longing and desire, and the same sad knowledge that their time together was limited.

“Accept this as the gift this is,” Irene spoke quietly as she lowered her head. “For both of us,” she whispered as she once again covered Agnis’ sex with her mouth.

Agnis’ body arched, and her fingers found their way back into Irene’s hair as she began to writhe under her lover’s exquisite oral assault once more. It wasn’t long before she was back on the edge of orgasm; the pleasure coursing through her body overwhelming every last nerve in Agnis’ body.

“Irene…” 

“I know,” Irene murmured as she nibbled at Agnis’ clit. “No more holding back, Agnis. I want you to come for me.” She curled her fingers inside her lover, stroking the sensitive patch of skin within. “Take what you need.” 

Permission given, Agnis’ fingers clutched at Irene’s head, and she began to lift her hips into every thrust of Irene’s tongue and fingers.

She was so close.

So very, very close to coming; the tension, the pleasure, building to almost painful levels under Irene’s talented touch.

God, she needed to come.

“…Agnis…” Irene spoke against her pussy. “Come for me, Agnis…”

Agnis groaned, grasped Irene’s head in her hands and ground her sex against Irene’s face. She came with a loud cry of her lover’s name. As her body shuddered in orgasm, she could feel Irene continuing to lick, suck and kiss her sex, prolonging the pleasure.

When she could take no more, Agnis tugged Irene back up and kissed her hungrily; licking her own cream from Irene’s chin and lips. Their legs entangled and their hands began to explore familiar curves.

“Let’s make love now...” Irene whispered against Agnis’ lips.

The words, ‘for the last time’, remained unspoken between them as they rolled onto their sides.

Agnis pulled her mouth from Irene’s, and reached out to tuck a lock of her dirty-blonde hair behind her ear, then caressed her cheek. “Yes,” she replied softly, blinking back a sudden rush of tears. “Let’s make love now.”

Irene returned the gesture, running her finger along the curve of Agnis’ jaw, and smiled tenderly.

“I love you,” they whispered simultaneously, leaning in with gentle smiles playing about their lips, as their mouths met in another kiss that was slow and deep; tongues meeting and wrapping around each other in a passionate dance.

Agnis trailed her fingers down along Irene’s side, her smile growing as Irene squirmed at the ticklish sensation, and then slipped her hand between her thighs. She released Irene’s mouth and held her eyes as she pressed her middle and ring fingers inside the blonde’s wet sheath.

Irene moaned, and tightened her inner muscles around Agnis’ deft fingers. She slipped her own hand between their bodies, between Agnis’ thighs, and then slid her fingers into Agnis’ pussy.

Agnis groaned Irene’s name, and immediately clenched around the long digits.

Their eyes locked, and without speaking, they began to thrust their fingers in and out of each other’s sex. They shifted their legs, pressing them between each other’s thighs and harder against the back of their hands, maintaining pressure on their clits as they rocked their bodies against each other.

Emotionally engaged, it did not take long before both Agnis and Irene had each other on the edge of release. Their gasps and moans rose up into the cool night as their heated bodies rushed towards orgasm.

“Oh god…”

Agnis whimpered Irene’s name when she felt the other woman’s inner muscles begin to rhythmically clench around her fingers.

“Agnis!”

In that moment, even knowing that this would the last time she would ever experience this with the woman she loved – and lost - Agnis wanted nothing more than to make Irene come, and to come herself at Irene’s hands.

“Oh god, Agnis!”

“I know…” Agnis gasped.

They were both close. Agnis could feel it in Irene’s body, and see it by the wild look in her eyes.

“Please… baby…”

“…yes…” Agnis nodded.

They curled their fingers simultaneously, and pressed the heels of their hands harder against each other’s clits.

With loud cries of completion that were lost in the crash of the waves on the rocky shore below, Agnis and Irene came hard. Their bodies thrashed against each other as the pleasure surged through them.

“Oh god…” Agnis panted against Irene’s skin as she buried her face in her lover’s neck.

“My… sentiments… exactly…” Irene agreed breathlessly as she shifted onto her back, and pulled Agnis with her.

Agnis snuggled deeper into Irene’s embrace, and pressed light kisses to the soft skin. She draped her arm around the other woman’s waist, and pressed her leg, which was still between Irene’s, firmer against the warmth of Irene’s sex.

“I feel like I’m losing you all over again,” Agnis whispered as she felt a heavy weight suddenly settle on her heart.

“Agnis…”

“I know…” Agnis shook her head against Irene in an attempt to stifle her tears. “I know.”

“You will never truly lose me,” Irene said softly against the crown of Agnis’ head. “I told you, I will always be with you… in your heart.”

Agnis nodded. “I know,” she whispered.

They fell silent, both suddenly very aware their time together was fading away.

“Just be happy, Agnis,” Irene told her as she trailed her finger along the line of Agnis’ jaw. “Let yourself be happy again.”

Agnis closed her eyes, and let herself be lulled to sleep to the sound of Irene’s heart beating beneath her ear in time with the rolling of the surf below.

~~* TSN *~~ ~~* TSN *~~

The heat of the sun warming her face pulled Agnis from her slumber. Irene’s name fell from her lips in a soft whisper as the sun’s rays began to slowly evaporate the foggy tendrils of sleep from her mind. It was at that moment, Agnis realized she was lying in her bed, wearing her pyjamas, and covered by her blankets… and Irene’s robe.

She sat up, her eyes welling with tears.

Oh god… had it all just been a dream?

Agnis covered her mouth with her hand to muffle her sob, even though she’d realized that Quoyle and Bunny were down in the kitchen, judging by the noise she could hear drifting up through the house.

As she drew in a deep breath, her eyes closed.

The unmistakable scent of Irene lingered on her fingers and palm.

It hadn’t been a dream.

Her body shuddered in relief.

_“Just be happy, Agnis. Let yourself be happy again.”_

Irene’s final words echoed through her mind.

Agnis opened her eyes.

“I’ll try, Irene. I’ll try.”


	2. Chapter 2

Agnis glanced up at her nephew, as she resumed tracing out the pattern on the leather, to see him frown as he picked up one of the newspapers from the workbench, and stare at the article he’d written.

“They really did that?”

“Yeah,” Agnis answered.

“I’m sorry, Aunt.”

“Wasn’t your doing.”

“Even still,” Quoyle said with a sad shake of his head.

Agnis could see the emotions warring within him; his pride at having written the article versus his sympathy over the Melvilles stiffing her. She smiled to herself. He had a kind heart, her nephew, no doubt about that; so unlike his father.

Agnis shook her head to clear her thoughts.

“Don’t worry about it, nephew. They’ll get theirs.”

Quoyle reached up and rubbed his chin as he nodded absently. “If you say so, Aunt.”

Agnis looked up, and met her nephew’s eyes. “I do,” she replied, then bent over her work table as she began to cut the leather. “I’ll be late tonight. You and Bunny will have to fend for yourselves for supper.”

“All right, Aunt.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Agnis watched Quoyle gather up the rest of the newspapers then turn to Mavis.

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Bangs.”

“Nice to meet you, too, Quoyle,” Mavis replied with a smile.

With that, Quoyle left.

“He’s a Quoyle all right,” Mavis remarked as she stepped closer to the work table, and placed her hands on the leather Agnis had resumed cutting, to hold it tight.

“One of the better ones,” Agnis agreed quietly.

They fell into a comfortable silence as they worked, tracing and cutting out the leather for their next project. Mavis instinctively seemed to know where Agnis needed her, whether it was to hold the pattern in place, or keep the leather taut enough for the cutting shears.

As Mavis manoeuvred around her to hold the ends of the cut leather, Agnis mused on how, right from the start, she and Mavis seemed to work well together, as if they’d done so for years, and not just a few weeks.

Once the piece had been cut, Mavis gathered up the scrap pieces and tossed them aside, while Agnis moved what would, when finished, become the new seat for a boat anchored at the dock, to the side for sewing later.

“Hand me that…” Agnis began as she turned to Mavis, only to stop when she saw her holding the next swath of leather to be cut. “Thanks.” She heard Mavis chuckle softly and couldn’t help grinning. “Oh, shut up.”

Mavis only laughed more as she helped lay the thick cloth out then handed Agnis the cardboard pattern she needed.

“Where’s the chalk?” Agnis asked, looking about the work table, lifting the edges of the leather. “Did we knock it to the floor again?”

“Let me check.” Mavis bent down to check. “Yes, we did,” she said, amusement tingeing her voice, as she stretched out to pick up the chalk from where it’d fallen under the table. She rose and held it out to Agnis.

Agnis started when their fingers brushed, and an unexpected shock shot through her. She heard Mavis gasp, and her eyes immediately flew to the other woman’s.

Several heartbeats passed before Agnis blinked and broke eye contact. She slowly curled her fingers around the chalk, and lifted it from Mavis’ hand, then turned back to the work table.

Neither one spoke as they, once more, worked in silence.

It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, but there was a new awareness between them. An attraction had sparked to life. One that neither one felt quite ready for.

Agnis glanced over at Mavis, to find the other woman watching her with a thoughtful expression on her face; her eyes filled with the same questions and confusion Agnis knew were in hers.

They shared a quick, suddenly shy, smile before resuming tracing out the pattern on the leather before them.

 _‘I will always be in your heart, you know that. I know that.’_ Irene’s words from that mystical night a little over a month ago echoed in her mind. _‘But there is room for another. And she’s here.’_

Could Mavis be the one, Agnis wondered, chancing another sly look at her assistant, and suddenly remembering the thought she’d dismissed when Irene had told her she’d already met the one.

_“Just keep an open mind, sweetheart.”_

‘I’ll try, Irene,’ Agnis thought. ‘I’ll try.’


	3. Chapter 3

“Do you want me to run out, and pick us up something for dinner?”

“What are you thinking of getting?” Agnis asked, not bothering to look up from the pieces of cut leather she was pinning together for sewing.

“I don’t know. What do you want?”

Agnis looked up then, and she swallowed at the now familiar jolt that moved through her when their eyes met.

‘I want you.’

The thought suddenly entered her mind, surprising Agnis with the intensity of her desire.

“Skipper Will’s is closest,” Mavis continued. “They’re quick, and their food’s good.”

“True.” Agnis nodded in agreement.

“And, seeing as how we’re going to be working late again, we might do with something to eat.”

“There really isn’t that much to do,” Agnis remarked, looking at the small pile of cut leather between them. “You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.”

As much as Agnis wanted Mavis to stay, and she did, a small part of her also wanted her to leave. The part that was, Agnis admitted to herself, a little frightened by the attraction she had, and the feelings she was developing, for this woman.

“It’s not a problem. I’m happy to do it,” Mavis told her, and shrugged. “There’s nothing waiting for me at home, and…” Her voice trailed off.

Agnis raised her head again. “And what, Mavis?”

Mavis’ skin flushed slightly as she admitted shyly, “I enjoy spending time with you.”

Holding the other woman’s gaze, Agnis stood, and slowly moved around the bench to stand in front of Mavis. They continued to stare at each other.

Agnis watched as Mavis seemed to struggle with the decision of whether she should say more or not. 

“I’m attracted to you, Agnis,” Mavis told her, finally, in a quiet but sure voice. “I know what you’re probably thinking, my being a widow and all, but I am very attracted to you.”

“You’re bisexual.”

It was a statement rather than a question. Agnis had never been one for beating around the bush, and she was pleased when Mavis answered anyway.

“I am, and it’s been a while since I’ve been attracted to another woman.”

“It’s been a long time for me, too,” Agnis admitted, knowing that Mavis had long ago figured out that she was a lesbian.

“She must have been someone special,” Mavis said softly. “The woman you loved.”

“She was.”

“You miss her.”

Agnis nodded.

“You still love her.”

“Yes,” Agnis replied quietly. “I’ll always love her,” she said. “But, it’s recently been suggested that it’s time for me to move on, and live again. I think I’m finally ready to do that.”

“Are you really?”

“Yes,” Agnis said in a soft voice as she reached up and brushed the back of her fingers over Mavis’ cheek, surprising herself at how certain she felt. “Yes, I’m ready.”

Slowly, so very slowly, Agnis leaned in, and touched her lips to Mavis’ in the gentlest of kisses. Her hand dropped to Mavis’ shoulder, and she raised the other so that she was grasping both of her shoulders as their mouths met again, and again. Soft sighs escaped them both, and with every press of their lips, the kiss grew deeper, until, finally, their tongues met.

When the need for air finally became paramount, they broke off the kiss and simply looked at each other, soft smiles curling the corners of their mouths.

“I am attracted to you, too,” Agnis told her breathlessly. “Just so there is no doubt.”

Mavis’ eyes danced with amusement. “Well, that should make things a little easier, don’t you think?”

Agnis chuckled, nodded her agreement, and leaned in to capture Mavis’ lips once more. Their arms slipped more fully around each other, and they pressed their bodies closer together. Soft moans echoed between them as their tongues met, and tangled around each other.

Both would have continued kissing all evening but for the low growl that rumbled up between them.

They chuckled out of the kiss, their eyes smiling at each other.

“I…” Mavis took a deep breath. “I should go get our dinner.”

Agnis nodded, drawing a shaky breath herself.

“Squid burger?”

“Yes, please.”

Neither woman made move to release the other.

“Agnis?”

“Mmm?”

“Do you want fries with your burger?”

“Mmhmm… and gravy.”

“All right.”

Before either one drew in their next breath, their mouths met again, and they kissed hungrily.

Agnis moaned as Mavis moved her tongue artfully against hers in slow, thoughtful strokes. The woman could kiss, Agnis thought, and slipped her hand into Mavis’ hair, holding her head steady as she deepened the kiss further. 

“Agnis…” Mavis murmured against her lips as she pressed closer.

“Oh god…” Agnis groaned as Mavis rubbed her body against hers. She felt her nipples harden, and her pussy throb and grow damp in response.

Hands wandered, and they kissed for several more minutes before pulling apart and stepping out of each other’s arms. They stared at each other, both breathing heavily.

“I’m going to…” Mavis gestured in the general direction of the door.

Agnis nodded. “Yeah.”

They held each other’s eyes for another long moment, then Mavis turned and walked over to where their coats were hanging. 

Agnis watched Mavis grab her jacket, and just as she was about to make her way down the stairs, she called out to her.

Mavis turned back expectantly.

Agnis opened her mouth to speak then closed it again. She realized in that moment she didn’t know what she wanted to say, while at the same moment thinking of all the things she wanted to say to the other woman. Agnis tried again, opening then closing her mouth before simply shaking her head softly, and smiling warmly.

Mavis smiled back; a knowing, understanding smile that ghosted over her lips and danced in her eyes. “I won’t be long.” With that, she turned and hurried down the stairs.

Agnis watched until she heard the door to the shop open then bang closed seconds later.

She licked her lips. She could taste Mavis.

Her eyes closed, and she took a deep, shuddering breath.

The last time she’d kissed a woman, and been attracted enough to want to kiss her… and not stop… had been Irene.

A small wave of guilt swelled in Agnis’ chest as she thought of her dead lover.

The hairs on the back of her neck suddenly stood on end, and it felt like someone was watching her. She turned to find Irene leaning against the far window ledge with a smile on her face.

“No guilt, sweetheart.” Irene’s voice floated across to her. “Mavis is a good woman. You’ll be good together. So, just be happy.”

Agnis nodded, her eyes moist and bright.

Irene’s smile grew as she straightened up, and Agnis watched as she slowly began to fade. Within seconds, Agnis was once again alone in her workshop.

“Thank you, Irene,” she whispered into the quiet of the room, then smiled at the sudden warmth that enveloped her.

She walked back around the workbench and resumed working while she waited for Mavis to return with dinner.

~~*TSN *~~ ~~* TSN *~~

Agnis popped a fry into her mouth, and as she chewed, she let her eyes wander to her dinner companion. At that very moment, Mavis looked up and their eyes met.

They smiled almost shyly at each other.

“This is ridiculous,” Agnis remarked suddenly, dropping the fry she’d just picked up, and laying her hand on the table. “I’m sixty-five years old! I’m too old to be acting like a love-sick teenager.”

“I’m glad I’m not the only one,” Mavis chuckled, and Agnis grinned in response. “You’re never too old to feel this way when you’re starting a new relationship or even falling in love.”

“Falling in love…” Agnis echoed quietly.

“Scary feeling, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“I’m afraid, too, Agnis,” Mavis said, pushing the remnants of her meal away and shifting her chair closer to the other woman. “You know, I married my first husband when I was fifteen. Thomas was my best friend growing up, and he was just beautiful. Tall, dark and handsome, and I loved him madly.”

Agnis smiled at the dreamy look that passed over Mavis’ face.

“He was the one who helped me realize that I was attracted to both men and women. He figured it out before I did, actually, and encouraged me to explore it for myself.”

“He sounds like a remarkable man,” Agnis remarked. “Especially given the times.”

“He was,” Mavis agreed. “When he died I was devastated. Just devastated, and not long after that, I found comfort in the arms of a woman who was passing through Killick-Claw. It was a brief affair, lasting only the two weeks she was here, but it was enough. She was what I needed at the time, and she helped me to move past losing Tom. A couple years later, at the insistence of my parents, I married, Desmond. I did not love him as I’d loved Thomas, but he was a good man, and he treated me well.”

“Did he know…?”

“Yes,” Mavis answered. “We talked before we got married. Des, it turned out, was gay. But in those days, as you know, you were expected to get married, settle down, and raise a family.”

Agnis nodded.

“So, it actually worked out rather well for both of us. He didn’t want kids, and neither did I. So, to keep our families from hounding us, we got married. He was free to see other men,” she chuckled, “and so was I. Other women, too, if I so chose. We just had to be discreet, which in this town wasn’t always easy.”

“No, it wouldn’t be.” Agnis knew all too well how difficult it was to keep secrets in a small town.

“Des died in a plane crash, up in Labrador, fifteen years ago,” Mavis continued. “Losing him was hard. He’d become my best friend, and I’d loved him dearly. After that, I just stopped seeing other people, not that I’d really seen too many to begin with. Again, in this town…” She gave Agnis a wry grin as she let the sentence hang.

“Two years ago, a new family, the Barnetts, moved into the area. George and Jess, along with their two young children, and Janet’s older sister Lauren. They were very friendly, and everyone in town took to them, and they to us.”

Agnis regarded the woman beside her, and at the look on her face, she figured out the next part of the story. “You and Lauren?”

“Yes,” Mavis sighed. “I should have known better, but I’d been lonely, and she was like a breath of fresh air. We began to quietly see other. Things were going pretty good, and I thought I’d found someone I could love, and possibly spend the rest of my life with.”

“What happened?”

“She just up and left town about a year ago. No good-bye, no explanation, no phone call… nothing. She was just gone. I tried asking Janet about her, but all she would tell me is that Lauren had decided to move back to Ontario to be with their parents.” Mavis took a deep breath. “I found out a few months later that she’d reconciled with her husband. I didn’t know she was married.”

“Mavis…” Agnis reached out to grasp the younger woman’s hand.

Mavis returned the squeeze of Agnis’ fingers. “I decided then and there, I was not going to put my heart on the line again.” A soft smile spread across Mavis’ face as she met Agnis’ eyes. “But then you moved back to town, and I realized that decision wasn’t mine to make.”

“Funny how it can take us so unaware,” Agnis murmured with a smile. She shifted her gaze to look out the window into the night. Her voice was barely above a whisper when, after several moments of silence, she began to speak. “I lost Irene to Leukemia six years ago. I’d gone away, at her insistence, to take an upholstering course in order to learn some new techniques and hone my skills. It was a three month course. When I got home…” Agnis took a deep shuddering breath, and turned back to look at Mavis. “She’d lost so much weight, her hair had thinned… and, that’s when I found out about the cancer. She hadn’t wanted me to worry while I was away, or to be distracted while taking the course, so she didn’t tell me.”

Mavis tightened her grip on Agnis’ hand.

“It progressed quickly after that. The chemotherapy, the drugs… it was horrible watching her go through all of that… seeing her waste away…” Her eyes closed against the memory. “All those hours spent in the hospital…”

Agnis pulled her hand free Mavis’ as her voice drifted off. She got to her feet, and wandered over to the window. She stared out into the darkness once again.

“She was in my arms when she died. She’d wanted her last memory on this Earth to be of being in my arms, and asked me to hold her. So, I climbed into the hospital bed with her, gathered her into my arms, and held her.” Agnis turned to look back at Mavis, still seated at the work bench, but watching her intently. She gave her a sad smile. “I think she knew, when she asked me, that it was her time. Within an hour of taking her in my arms, Irene took her last breath.”

“Oh, Agnis…” Mavis murmured, her eyes filling with sympathetic tears. “That must have been so hard.”

Agnis could see that Mavis wanted to comfort her, but she made no move to get up from her chair, as if instinctively knowing that Agnis was not one for being comforted. Irene had been the only one she would ever allow to do so, she recognized this fact, remembering how she’d shied away from Quoyle’s attempt to comfort her the month before. Holding Mavis’ gaze, Agnis suddenly realized she wanted the comfort Mavis was so very willing to give.

“It was,” she answered as she pushed herself away from the window, walked back over to sit down in her chair. She reached out and took Mavis’ hand in hers again, smiling when the other woman squeezed it tenderly. “When she took her last breath, and the heart monitor flat lined, I felt my heart stop with hers.”

Mavis shifted closer.

“It was months before I could function again without breaking down, and like you, I’d decided that was it. I had no intention of ever being with anyone again, let alone developing feelings for another woman, but I have.”

They shared soft looks.

“I’m scared, too.”

“I know.”

Agnis lifted her other hand to feather her fingers over Mavis’ cheek. “I want to give this a go.”

“So do I,” Mavis replied, turning her hand in Agnis’ to lace their fingers together. “Let’s just take it slow.”

Agnis nodded in agreement, and leaned towards the other woman. Mavis smiled, and leaned in as well. Their mouths met in a tender kiss.

They kissed quietly for several minutes, and neither one made move to deepen it; both content with the gentle pressure of lips against lips.

They pulled back and smiled at each other, their eyes sparkling with a mixture of wonder and trepidation… and with quite a bit of excited anticipation.

“We should get back to work.”

“Yes, we should.”

~~*TSN *~~ ~~* TSN *~~

Curled up under her blankets, Agnis gazed out of her bedroom window at the night sky, and let her thoughts wander.

Mavis.

Agnis snorted softly in amusement.

After the events of the evening, of course her thoughts would wander to the other woman.

After their talk, she and Mavis had finished eating their dinner while working to finish pinning the leather pieces together for sewing.

It seemed to Agnis that they’d worked even more in tandem than they had before, and completed their work a little after midnight.

 

_“I’ll see you tomorrow then.”_

_“Mmhmm. Drive safe going home, please.”_

_Agnis smiled and nodded. “I will.”_

_Except for the added ‘please’, it was the same exchange they shared every night when leaving the shop, and this time, before Mavis could exit the building, Agnis reached out to grasp her upper arms, leaned in and kissed her._

_“Mmm…” they hummed against each other’s lips._

_Mavis lifted her hands to Agnis’ hips, and tugged her closer. They stumbled back into the wall, their bodies flush against one another, and the kiss quickly escalated from there._

_Agnis groaned when the other woman bit gently at her bottom lip._

_They broke off the kiss at the same time, and looked at each other as they panted for breath._

_“I thought we were going to take this slow,” Agnis murmured._

_Mavis nodded. “Right. We are.”_

_They shared another brief kiss, then quickly untangled themselves and left the shop._

_“Do you want a ride home?” Agnis asked._

_Mavis shook her head._

_“You sure?”_

_“Agnis, if you drive me home, we both know we won’t be taking this slow.” It was tempered with a knowing smile._

_Agnis grinned, and chuckled softly. “Yes, I know.”_

_Mavis reached out and brushed her fingers over Agnis’ hand. “Drive safe, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”_

_Agnis nodded. “Good night, Mavis.”_

She’d watched Mavis walk away, absurdly grateful that she only lived down the road, then climbed into her truck and drove home.

Agnis rolled onto her side, and tugged the blankets up higher as she closed her eyes and tried to sleep. However, with her mind full of Mavis, Agnis found she was having difficulty falling asleep. With a sigh, she resigned herself to not sleeping any time soon, and decided to try and think a little more rationally about the situation with Mavis, and everything she found attractive about the widow Bangs.

The woman was not afraid of hard work, or of getting her hands dirty; a trait Agnis appreciated. She did not have the time, or the inclination to deal with prissy women – ones too worried about breaking a nail or getting dirty - which thankfully, Mavis was not.

She also found Mavis to be a very intelligent woman, able to converse, and offer opinions, on wide variety of subjects. In fact, it was during one of their many talks that Mavis had told Agnis that having married so young, she’d not finished high school. She had, however, gone back to get her diploma in her mid-forties; something she very proud of having accomplished.

A grin suddenly graced her face. She and Mavis also shared the same dry sense of humour, which was something Agnis found extremely appealing.

“And, she’s easy on the eyes,” Agnis murmured into the darkness, then moaned at the memory of Mavis’ body pressed against hers. She was lean, years of hard work had seen to that, and yet, she was soft and curvy in all the right places.

In that moment, Agnis found herself wishing she had driven Mavis home. That she had stayed with her, and that they’d both thrown caution to the wind, and given in to what they both wanted – each other.

She squeezed her thighs together to try and quell the fierce ache within her, then shifted onto her back again with a groan.

It was going to be a long night.


	4. Chapter 4

“Were the eyes open or closed?” Mavis asked as she finished reading the article in the copy of the Gammy Bird on her sewing table, and returned her attention to threading her machine.

“I dunno, just said it was a disembodied head,” Agnis answered as she ran her pieces of leather through the sewing machine at her work station.

“What do the police have to say about it?”

“Still working on it. A little late to return the head to its owner, though.”

Mavis snorted softly and smirked before biting off the thread from the spool.

At the sound of footsteps pounding up the stairs, Agnis glanced over her shoulder just as Quoyle reached the floor. “Hello, nephew.”

“Police bulletin,” Quoyle began without preamble, reading from the sheet of paper in his hand. “Mrs. Silver Melville was arrested early today in Lanai, Hawaii…”

Agnis and Mavis stopped sewing, and their gazes met briefly before returning to Quoyle as he continued reading.

“…for the murder of her husband, socialite and raconteur, Mr. Bayonet Melville. ‘He pushed me once too often,’ Mrs. Melville confessed, ‘so I finally pushed back.’”

“Good for you, my dear!” Agnis said emphatically as she snipped at a loose thread with a little extra force, tossed it aside, then reached for the balance wheel to adjust the needle. She paused and looked up when she felt Mavis’ eyes on her.

Her blue eyes were filled with a mixture of disbelief, confusion, and concern before she dropped her gaze sadly.

“Well, he probably deserved it.” Agnis finished, and resumed stitching the leather. But as she guided the material under the needle, Agnis realized she needed to talk to Mavis.

Talk to her, and explain…

The thought of doing so, however, scared her shitless, and old fears began to creep to the surface.

Agnis just hoped Mavis would understand.

~~* TSN *~~ ~~* TSN *~~

Agnis glanced up from her sewing to see Mavis still working away on her pile of leather, her head lowered in concentration.

Her brow furrowed.

They’d been working steadily, yet quietly, since Quoyle left, which wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. They often fell silent while working, but always, it was a companionable silence. And, in the last several weeks since admitting their attraction, when they weren’t flirting with one another, the silence between them was charged with sexual tension.

The tension between them now was different.

It felt anxious… strained… and, Agnis knew it was now or never.

She stopped what she was doing, pushed her chair back and stood. She slowly made her way over to where Mavis was working.

“Mavis.”

Mavis stopped her machine and looked up.

“We need to talk.”

“About what?”

Agnis sighed. “Mavis…”

Mavis inclined her head in acknowledgement then sat back in her chair, folded her hands in her lap, and waited.

“I… I’m…” Agnis stuttered, something completely out of character for her, then shook her head. She tried once more before giving up and walking across to the far side of the room. She leaned against the wall, and stared out the window at the setting sun, while silently berating herself for behaving like a scared child.

Agnis startled when she felt Mavis slip her arms around her from behind, and lay her head on her back.

“Tell me,” Mavis urged in a soft voice.

Laying her hands over Mavis’ where they rested on her stomach, Agnis took a deep steadying breath. “When I was twelve years old…” Her voice cracked, and trailed off. She wasn’t sure she could do this. She’d only told one person about what had happened, and even then Agnis had been afraid that once she knew, Irene would be disgusted and leave her all alone… and that was her biggest fear in telling Mavis now.

“It’s all right, Agnis. Take your time.”

Agnis nodded and closed her eyes.

Irene hadn’t been disgusted when she told her. In fact, she’d been mortified that Agnis had endured that, and had helped her deal with all that’d happened. They’d grown closer as a result.

_‘Trust your heart, sweetheart,’_ Irene’s voice sounded in her head. _‘Trust Mavis’ heart.’_

“When I was twelve,” Agnis began again, her voice barely above a whisper. “I was raped by my older brother Guy… Quoyle’s father.”

Mavis’ arms tightened around her. “Oh, Agnis…”

“He… I… I got pregnant,” she said, her eyes filling with unwanted tears. “I couldn’t… didn’t want to keep it. So, one night I snuck out of the house, and went to see my cousin. She mixed up a batch of black devil’s tea…”

Agnis’ heart clenched when Mavis suddenly pulled away, and she drew in a shuddering breath at the loss of the other woman’s warmth. She gasped when she felt a soft hand cupping her cheek, and a gentle thumb wiping away the tears she hadn’t realized had fallen.

“Agnis.” Mavis spoke in a quiet voice. “Look at me.”

Agnis slowly opened her eyes.

Mavis was looking at her with such compassion, that Agnis was helpless to stop the tears from flowing in earnest.

“Did you think I would… what? Think it was your fault, or that I would leave you?”

Agnis nodded.

Mavis smiled tenderly, and brushed her thumb over her lips. “I’m not going anywhere.”

The tension in Agnis’ body left her in that moment and she slumped into Mavis’ embrace. She buried her face in the crook of her neck, and felt Mavis’ arms tighten around her and hold her closer.

“What happened wasn’t your fault, Agnis. You know that.”

“I know,” Agnis muttered as she wrapped her arms around Mavis, and held tightly to her… still afraid on some small level that Mavis would change her mind, that she would find Agnis repulsive now, and would leave.

“I’m not leaving, Agnis…” Mavis whispered against Agnis’ ear. “I promise.”

Agnis nodded as Mavis continued to hold her.

It felt good to be held… to be comforted. Especially by someone who cared.

It’d been so long.

Agnis closed her eyes, and let the warmth of Mavis’ embrace envelope her. After several moments, she lifted her head, and met Mavis’ gaze. “Now do you understand why I reacted the way I did about Silver Melville?”

“Yeah,” Mavis nodded. “I was just shocked, honey, that’s all. Your reaction was so strong, it surprised me. But, now I know, and I understand.”

Agnis gave her a tremulous smile. “So, we’re still okay?”

Mavis smiled back, then leaned in to kiss her.

It was a tender kiss; soft and sweet, but enough to finally calm the worry in Agnis’ mind, and stir the emotions in her heart.

Mavis murmured against Agnis’ lips, “We’re very okay.”


	5. Chapter 5

Agnis wiped her mouth with the napkin, then placed it on the table and leaned back in her chair with a satisfied sigh.

“That was delicious, Mavis.”

Mavis smiled. “Would you like more? Or are you ready for dessert?”

Agnis shook her head. “Can we hold off on that for a little bit? I couldn’t eat another bite even if I wanted to.”

“Sure,” Mavis chuckled as she began to clear away their supper dishes, and when Agnis moved to help her, Mavis waved her away.

Ignoring her, Agnis gathered up her own dishes and followed Mavis into her kitchen. “Would you like me to wash or dry?”

“Agnis, you don’t have to…”

“But I want to,” she said. “So, wash or dry?”

Mavis shook her head. “Agnis…”

“Mavis.”

They stared at each other.

“Stubborn woman,” Mavis muttered a few moments later.

“And don’t you forget it.” Agnis chuckled.

Mavis gave her an overly-dramatic sigh, even as her eyes twinkled with amusement. “Fine,” she said as she placed her dishes in the sink. “You can dry.”

“Thank you,” Agnis replied as she handed over her plate and utensils, then headed back into the dining room to gather the rest of the dirty dishes.

Mavis shook her head as she turned back to the sink. She pushed the strainer plug into place then turned on the taps. As the sink began to fill with water, she grabbed the bottle of dish soap, and squirted out a generous amount into the steaming liquid.

“Just think,” Agnis remarked as she returned to the kitchen carrying the dishes, and placed them on the counter beside the sink. “With both of us doing them, we’ll get them done faster.”

“It’s not like there’s a lot to do,” Mavis told her as she turned the water off.

“Doesn’t matter,” Agnis replied as she looked around the small kitchen. “Where do you keep the dish towels?”

“Second drawer there,” Mavis answered, pointing to the row of drawers beside her.

Agnis quickly got one of the towels out, then stepped up behind Mavis, and placed her hands on the counter on either side of the other woman. “And, for the record,” she began in a low, husky voice. “You are just as stubborn as I am.”

Mavis laughed softly. “Not quite, but close,” she replied as she tilted her head back to look at Agnis.

Blue eyes met blue eyes.

The light, playful mood shifted in an instant.

“Agnis…” Mavis whispered in a voice full of longing as she pressed her body back against Agnis.

Agnis felt her heart begin to race at the feeling of Mavis’ body all along hers. Unable to resist, she wrapped her arms around Mavis, and held her closer.

She wanted Mavis.

And, it was more than obvious that Mavis wanted her.

This was nothing new, of course. Over the last couple of months, they had engaged in several long, passionate make out sessions, which only made their want of each other more intense. But they had yet to make love, despite both of them wanting the other desperately; circumstances always seemed to conspire against them.

Agnis lifted one hand up to brush the backs of her fingers over Mavis’ cheek. Maybe this was finally their time.

Mavis gave her a soft smile then carefully extricated herself from Agnis’ embrace. She reached out, took the dish towel from Agnis’ hand, tossed it onto the counter then laced their fingers together. Without a word, she led Agnis out of the kitchen, down a short hall, and into what was obviously her bedroom.

Mavis reached out to turn the light on as she shut the door, before drawing Agnis deeper into her room. When she reached the bed, Mavis stopped then turned to face Agnis.

The only sound in the room was the sound of their ragged breathing as the two women simply stared at each other.

“Agnis,” Mavis broke the silence with a quiet utterance of her name. “If you’re not…”

Agnis’ mouth was on hers before she could finish the sentence.

The kiss was slow, deep and hungry. They moaned into each other’s mouths as they pulled each other closer, pressing their bodies flush together.

“I want you so much,” Agnis murmured against Mavis’ lips as her fingers began to fumble with the buttons on her blouse.

“I want you, too,” Mavis responded with a nip at Agnis’ bottom lip as she, too, began to work at the buttons on Agnis’ flannel shirt.

Within minutes, their shirts were puddled on the floor at their feet. Their bras fluttered down moments later.

Agnis broke off the kiss, and dropped her gaze to Mavis’ chest.

“I know they’re not…”

“They’re just right,” Agnis cut her off as she lifted her hands to cup Mavis’ breasts, pleased when the other woman gasped and arched into her touch. They were, Agnis’ thought as she held their weight in her hands, just the right size, spilling over only slightly.

Agnis lifted her head to meet Mavis’ eyes. “Mavis, I know you’re not a spring chicken. Neither am I.” Agnis gestured to her own breasts which, large as they were, hung low on her chest, thanks to gravity and age. “My tits are no longer young and perky.”

“They’re just right,” Mavis echoed Agnis’ earlier words with a smile as she reached out to circle her finger around Agnis’ right nipple, then cupped the large mound in her hand. She lifted Agnis’ breast, then bent down to take the nipple in her mouth.

Agnis moaned when Mavis suckled firmly on the hard tip, drawing it deep into her mouth, then biting it gently before releasing it.

“I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted to do that,” Mavis told her when Agnis drew her back into her arms. “Or this…” she rubbed her bare breasts against Agnis’.

Agnis pulled Mavis closer, and ducked her head to kiss her. Mavis sighed against Agnis’ lips as they began to explore each other’s upper bodies. Hands moved over each other’s torsos, both delighting in the smooth, warm skin as they caressed each other. In between kisses, they removed the rest of their clothes then slipped into the bed.

They lay on their sides, facing each other, as fingers traced over the familiar features, the lines and curves, of their faces.

“I’m a little nervous,” Mavis admitted softly.

Agnis rested her hand on the curve of Mavis’ neck, and rubbed her thumb back and forth over the smooth skin just behind her ear. “I am, too.”

Mavis smiled. “Is it wrong that makes me feel better?”

“No,” Agnis chuckled as she stroked her hand down along Mavis’ side to her hip and back up to cup her breast.

Mavis moaned softly.

“I think we both need to stop thinking about it so much,” Agnis told her as she thumbed Mavis’ already hard nipple into an even tauter peak. “I want you, Mavis, and I want very much to be with you.”

“I want that… you… too,” Mavis replied, arching into Agnis’ touch.

Agnis smiled, a soft tender smile, then closed the distance between them to cover Mavis’ mouth with hers. It was a slow, languorous kiss, and as her tongue explored the warm cavern of her lover’s mouth, Agnis eased Mavis onto her back. Her lips parted from Mavis’ with a soft smack, and she lifted her head to gaze down at the other woman.

The soft smile returned as she began a gentle exploration of Mavis’ body. Agnis traced her fingers along her jawline, down the smooth column of her throat, and circled her breasts. She followed the same path with her lips and tongue until she pulled a hard nipple into her mouth.

“Agnis!” Mavis gasped, her hand flying out to cup the back of the older woman’s head as she swirled her tongue around the turgid tip.

Agnis hummed as she bracketed both of Mavis’ breasts in her hands, holding them so she could take each nipple in turn into her mouth. She sucked and bit at both breasts until Mavis’ nipples were achingly hard, then continued her exploration.

She smoothed her hands down Mavis’ stomach until she reached the soft, dark curls covering her sex, and fingered the hair teasingly.

“Agnis, please…”

Agnis pressed a kiss on the smooth skin between Mavis’ breasts then lifted her head to meet Mavis’ eyes and moved her hand lower to fully cup her pussy.

“Mmm…” Mavis bit her bottom lip when Agnis slipped her middle finger between the swelling lips of her sex and lightly stroked her clit. “Ag… nis…” she hissed when Agnis pressed a long finger inside her.

Agnis lowered her head, once more, to take Mavis’ nipple in her mouth as she began to stroke her finger in and out of Mavis’ wet sheath, adding a second finger after several moments. She groaned at the tight, wet warmth around her fingers, and pushed them deeper, curling them to rub against the sensitive patch within.

Mavis cried out, and her hand shot down to clutch at Agnis’ wrist. She lifted her hips into every thrust of Agnis’ fingers, moaning loudly when her thumb began to ride her clit. “Agnis… oh, yes… so good…”

Agnis allowed Mavis’ nipple to slip from her mouth as she shifted her body up to kiss her hungrily. She curled her leg over Mavis’, pressed her pussy against Mavis’ thigh, and began to rock gently in time with the pace of her fingers in and out of her lover’s sex.

She felt Mavis’ other arm slip under her, and her hand clutch at her rear as she began clench around Agnis’ fingers. She ripped her mouth from Agnis’ to pant for breath. “I… Agnis…” her fingers and inner walls tightened at the same time, and she began to keen.

Agnis thrust her fingers harder and faster, and pressed her thumb firmer against Mavis’ clit. “Come for me, Mavis…”

A strangled cry escaped Mavis as her body convulsed with her orgasm. She turned into Agnis as Agnis continued to stroke in and out of Mavis’ warmth, guiding her into a second, smaller release. Mavis’ hand tightened on Agnis’ wrist, then slid down to cover her hand and still her movements.

“Oh, god, Agnis…” Mavis moaned breathlessly against her shoulder. A soft whimper escaped her when Agnis eased her fingers out of her. She tilted her head back to watch Agnis slip her glistening fingers into her mouth.

Agnis hummed appreciatively as she sucked her fingers clean, then gave a surprised gasp when Mavis suddenly pushed her onto her back and rolled on top of her. Agnis groaned as their bodies came into full contact.

“You feel good,” Agnis murmured, as she slid her hands down her back to cup the smooth cheeks of Mavis’ ass. Mavis smiled and pressed closer, slipping her thigh between Agnis’ as she lowered her head and kissed her.

Agnis moaned into Mavis’ mouth when she began to rock against her, pressing her thigh hard against Agnis’ pussy with each movement. Her fingers flexed against Mavis’ rear, clutching and pulling her closer, as she ground herself against Mavis’ thigh, increasing the delicious friction.

It wasn’t long before she was pulling her mouth from Mavis’ to draw some much needed breath.

“You’re so hot,” Mavis told her in a low voice, as she suddenly circled her hips against Agnis, altering the pressure. “And, wet. God, Agnis… I can feel you leaving a trail on my thigh.”

Agnis groaned, and moved her hands to Mavis’ hips. She gripped them hard, and urged Mavis to thrust harder, and… “…faster! Fuck, Mavis… faster, harder…” she begged as she lifted her hips into the other woman.

“Oh, yes…” Mavis nodded. She reached between them, between Agnis’ thighs to part the lips of Agnis’ sex, then pushed, rubbed and rocked harder against her.

Agnis cried out. The pressure… the friction… against her clit… it was just too much, and within moments she shouted Mavis’ name as she came hard, her body writhing under the other woman as her orgasm crashed through her.

She sank back into the mattress, then groaned when another small tremor shook her body as Mavis shifted with her, and settled into her embrace. They shared a tender kiss. “Thank you,” Agnis whispered against Mavis’ lips.

“You’re very welcome.” Mavis smiled into the kiss.

They kissed slowly, dreamily, as they once again, began to stroke and caress each other.

“I don’t think I will ever tire of kissing you,” Agnis told her as she tugged Mavis’ bottom lip with her teeth. A slight blush coloured her cheeks at the admission.

A tender look filled Mavis’ blue eyes. “The feeling is very mutual, I assure you.” She grinned then. “You are one hell of a kisser.”

Agnis chuckled. “So are you.”

Their mouths came together again, and they lost themselves in the gentle stroking and exploring of each other’s tongues.

“Mavis?” Agnis tightened her embrace of the other woman when she felt her begin to shift down her body.

Mavis pressed her thigh against Agnis’ pussy, eliciting a groan from the older woman. “I want to go down on you,” she told her. “I want to taste you.”

Agnis felt a pulse between her thighs. God, she wanted Mavis’ mouth on her so much, and it must have shown on her face, because Mavis grinned and began to move lower again.

“Mavis, stop!” Agnis gripped her arms.

“Agnis? I thought you wanted…”

“Oh, I do,” Agnis told her as she tugged Mavis back up. “But, how about we do it together? I want to go down on you, too.”

A slow smile filled Mavis’ face. “I’ve not done that in a long time.”

“Neither have I.”

“I’m game if you are.”

Agnis grinned. “I am very game.” She slipped her hand into Mavis’ hair, and pulled her down for a hungry kiss. 

Their mouths parted at the same time, and after sharing a significant look, Mavis shifted away. She turned her body so that she was facing the foot of the bed, and with Agnis’ hands guiding her, moved her body into position.

Agnis groaned at the sight of Mavis’ pussy above her… swollen and glistening, the healthy pink flesh just begging to be devoured. She ran her hands up Mavis’ thighs, and along her back as Mavis lowered her upper body down between Agnis’ spread thighs. “All right?”

Mavis’ answer was to pull Agnis’ sex open with her fingers and give her a long, hard lick. “Very all right,” she murmured in between drags of her tongue.

Agnis moaned as she wrapped her arms around Mavis’ thighs and, with her fingers, she parted the swelling flesh, then lifted her mouth to cover Mavis’ pussy. She thrust her tongue as deep inside Mavis as she could before gliding it up to tease her clit.

Their tongues moved in tandem against each other. Strong licks up and down the length of each other’s sex, before their mouths closed around each other’s clits to suck and lick at the sensitive bundles.

Agnis pressed two fingers inside Mavis, and grinned when Mavis cried out and thrust back against her. She slowly began to slide them in and out of Mavis’ pussy as she closed her mouth over her clit. Agnis moaned against Mavis’ flesh when Mavis returned the favour, slipping one, then two fingers into her sex, and immediately began thrusting them, over and over, into her.

They continued this way for several minutes, fingers moving in concert with each other and with each other’s mouths.

“Mavis…” Agnis panted in between licks. “Mavis, I…”

“I know!” Mavis gasped against her. “Me too!” She closed her lips around Agnis’ clit and thrashed the hard flesh with her tongue.

Their hips began to move, rocking into each other’s mouths and fingers, both trying to increase the pressure… to push each other over the edge. They began to moan unceasingly into each other, groaning and humming, the vibrations spiking through them.

Agnis curled her fingers inside Mavis, and grazed her clit with her teeth, making the woman above her come with a shout of her name. Mavis’ pussy quivered madly around Agnis’ fingers, and she lapped hungrily at her, thrusting her tongue deep inside, when she eased her fingers out.

Seconds later, Agnis pulled her mouth from Mavis’ sex to cry out when Mavis pressed her mouth hard against Agnis’ pussy, and sucked furiously on Agnis’ clit. She slipped a third finger inside Agnis’ pussy, and Agnis came hard, her body shuddering almost violently, her orgasm tearing through her in waves.

Her head fell back against the pillow, and felt Mavis press a soft kiss to her inner thigh as she rested her head against it. Agnis lightly caressed the right cheek of Mavis’ ass, then patted it gently. “Come here, honey…”

Agnis helped a wobbly Mavis manoeuvre herself around on the bed, and the two settled back against the pillows with their legs entwined and their arms wrapped around each other.

They shared several soft, breathy kisses; tasting themselves on each other’s lips and tongues.

“I’d forgotten how much fun that was,” Mavis said with a smile as she lightly stroked the side of Agnis’ breast.

“So had I,” Agnis smiled back, her fingers tracing nonsensical patterns over Mavis’ back.

“Will you stay the night?” Mavis asked her quietly.

“I’d like that, yes.” Agnis nodded, then her brow furrowed. “What about your sister? Won’t she be home soon?”

When their parents had passed away five years earlier, they’d had to sell their parents’ house to cover funeral expenses, so Mavis’ older sister had moved in with her.

“She’s off on a retreat, and won’t be back until Sunday,” Mavis replied.

“Is that why you invited me over for dinner tonight?”

“That’s part of the reason,” Mavis answered. “I also just wanted to spend the evening with you away from work, and…” A soft blush spread across her cheeks, “I was hoping we would finally get to make love.”

Agnis’ smile grew. “So was I,” she told her, and dipped her head closer to brush a quick kiss to Mavis’ lips. “Does your sister know?”

“That I’m bi or about us?”

“Both.”

Mavis nodded. “I told my family just after Des died.”

“How’d they take it?”

“About how you’d think. My mother cried, but then just seemed to accept it, and it was never mentioned again. I don’t think my father cared one way or the other. Liz said she’d had her suspicions for years, but as long as I was happy, she was fine with it. That surprised me, as she and I were never really close when we were young.”

“And your brother?”

“Frank,” Mavis sighed. “Frank, called me a few choice names, and said he wanted nothing to do with me ever again. He’s talked with me only when he’s had to since. I will admit, his reaction hurt, especially as we were so close when we were kids. Even more so than Liz and I were growing up.”

Agnis pulled her closer, and ran her hand over her back in a comforting caress. Mavis smiled gratefully at her.

“As for you and me, Liz knows… or at least, she knows that I like you. She figured it out when I kept talking about you.” Mavis chuckled. “What was it you said a couple months ago about being too old to feel like a love-sick teenager? That’s just how I was acting. Sixty-one years old, and mooning about like a teenager.” She shook her head in amusement. “No wonder she clued in.”

Agnis laughed softly.

“Does it bother you that she knows?”

“No,” Agnis shook her head. “At some point, I suppose I will need to tell Quoyle as well.”

“You’re afraid though, aren’t you?”

“A little, yes.”

“Something tells me it won’t make any difference to him.”

“I think you’re right. I won’t tell him what his father did,” she said with a shake of her head. “You and Irene are the only two people I’ve ever told about that. But, Quoyle is family, thankfully nothing like his father, so I would like to tell him eventually.”

“You’ll know when the time’s right,” Mavis told her.

Agnis nodded and the two fell into a comfortable silence. 

A few minutes later, Mavis shifted away from Agnis to grab the blankets, and pulled them up, covering them as she settled back into Agnis’ embrace.

“So, you’ll stay?”

Even though she couldn’t see Mavis’ face, Agnis could hear the smile in her voice, and couldn’t help smiling in return as she nodded against the top of Mavis’ head. “Yeah… I’ll stay.”

~~*TSN *~~ ~~* TSN *~~

Unsure of what woke her; Agnis opened her eyes and slowly sat up. She felt slightly disconcerted in the unfamiliar surroundings, until she remembered she’d stayed with Mavis. She looked back over her shoulder, and frowned when she realized the other woman was not in the bed with her.

Turning on the bedside lamp, she glanced about the room for her clothes. She spotted them folded up neatly on the cedar chest at the foot of the bed. She tossed the blankets aside, and eased out of the bed.

A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth when she realized her shirt was missing.

Agnis looked around again, and spied a dark blue, terry cloth robe hanging on the back of the bedroom door. She walked across the room, pulled it off the hook, and slipped it on. It was a little snug, as Mavis was a little slimmer than she was, but fit well enough. Securing the robe’s belt, she left the bedroom in search of her wayward lover. 

She smiled.

She had a pretty good idea of where Mavis had gotten to.

Moments later, Agnis leaned up against the doorway of the kitchen with an appreciative look on her face.

Mavis stood at the sink, washing their supper dishes, wearing nothing but a pair of woolly socks, and Agnis’ favourite, green, flannel shirt. Her eyes trailed down Mavis’ gloriously bare legs, and she unconsciously licked her lips, remembering the feel of them entwined with hers. Agnis grinned. She couldn’t wait to feel them wrapped around her.

As if sensing Agnis’ eyes on her, Mavis turned and smiled.

The affection and tenderness, Agnis could see in Mavis’ blue eyes, set a torrent of butterflies loose in her belly.

Agnis pushed herself away from the door, and padded barefoot across the floor until she reached the other woman. She slipped her arms around her from behind, much as she had earlier, and propped her chin on her shoulder.

“If memory serves, this is why I am doing the dishes at one o’clock in the morning,” Mavis remarked.

Agnis chuckled.

“Make yourself useful,” Mavis said, then gestured with her chin at the dish towel lying on the counter where she’d tossed it earlier in the evening.

“Sure, now you want my help,” Agnis replied. She gave Mavis a gentle squeeze then released her, and reached for the towel.

“Look at it this way,” Mavis said as she rinsed the soap off the plate in her hand before placing it in the dish rack. “The sooner we get these done, the sooner we can go back to bed. Because, I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling a second wind coming on.”

Agnis met Mavis’ eyes, and a slow smile spread across her lips. The arousal filling her eyes, matching the desire she could see in Mavis’ gaze, was all the answer either one required.


	6. Chapter 6

Agnis shuffled into the kitchen to see Quoyle standing at the cupboard, the container of sugar in one hand, her book in the other, staring at the cover.

“Does that belong to you?”

“Sorry,” he apologized and handed the book over.

Agnis didn’t respond, just grabbed her usual mug, and walked over to the stove. She pulled a tea bag out of the canister, and dropped it in the cup.

“There’s still hot water in the kettle if you want some tea,” Quoyle said. “I’ve started looking for a place for me and Bunny,” he told her, joining her at the stove as she poured the boiling water into her mug. “You sure you’re going to be okay at your shop?”

“Said I would, didn’t I?” Agnis replied. She left him standing there to pour his own water, and crossed over to sit at the table with a sigh. She could feel Quoyle’s eyes on her, and wondered what he was thinking.

“I think Silver Melville was right to chop her husband’s head off.”

Agnis turned her head slowly to look back at him. She hadn’t been expecting that.

“He probably deserved it.”

She looked back down at her tea, watching it steep.

Quoyle joined her at the table, and placed his mug down between them. “I think more women should do what she did.”

Agnis glanced up at him as she stole the spoon out of his cup, then back down as she pressed the teabag against the side of the mug.

“Maybe some should have done it to their own brother.”

Her head snapped up, and her entire body tensed. ‘Oh god,’ she thought. ‘He can’t know…’

“My father,” he said quietly.

Her bottom lip trembled slightly as her mind began to race, wondering how he’d found out.

“Cousin Nolan dropped by last night.”

Agnis felt as if she’d been punched in the gut, dropped her eyes to her tea.

Nolan.

The old bastard was still alive.

The only one who knew… who knew what had happened… what she’d done.

Agnis met Quoyle’s eyes again briefly as she placed the spoon on the table beside her mug, then quickly got to her feet and rushed across the kitchen, her hands in her pockets, to stand at the sink.

She rested both hands on the edge of the sink for a moment, then in a bid to tamp down on the emotions swirling within her, and stem the tears that filled her eyes, she grabbed furiously at the dishes on the sideboard, and piled them in the sink in quick motions until it became too much.

She stopped, and clutched the edge of the counter. Her shoulders curled as her head dropped, and the tears began to fall.

“I always thought, if anyone knew, I’d be turned to stone,” Agnis told him. She’d not wanted him to know about this… about what Guy had done to her. “Shit!”

She covered her eyes with her hand as she began to cry.

Agnis hadn’t wanted Quoyle to know… not this.

She heard him move, and seconds later he was standing beside her. She opened her eyes when she felt him rest his handkerchief against her arm. She lowered her hand from her eyes, and took it from him grudgingly, then blew her nose.

“Here,” he said, and held out her mug as she wiped at her nose a couple more times before taking the cup from him. She shook her head in an attempt to clear it. “Tea’s a good drink. It’ll keep you going.”

Agnis took a deep breath in an attempt to calm her emotions before taking a sip of the bitter liquid she favoured so much.

“When someone hurts you that much… how do you…” Quoyle began in a soft voice. “Does it ever go away?”

Agnis glanced at him.

“Is it possible?”

She slowly turned, and sighed deeply. Agnis knew in that moment just how to answer him… to show him…

She walked slowly back to the table and sat down. She picked up her book, and took out the picture of her and Irene that she kept in it. Agnis stared at it for a heartbeat or two then placed it on the table in front of Quoyle’s cup, and waited.

She heard him approach.

“Her name was Irene,” Agnis told him quietly as he picked up the picture. “The love of my life.”

She looked up at him as he sat in the chair beside her.

“You look happy.” Quoyle said, with a tender look on his face as he continued to look at the picture.

“So, yeah… it is possible,” Agnis replied, then took a sip of her tea to help calm her racing heart.

Part of her was relieved Quoyle now knew, and knew all of it. Another part of her, the little girl that had been so traumatized, was anxious and scared that yet another person knew of her shame.

He knew what Guy had done to her. He knew about Irene, and he now knew that his aunt was gay. His earlier statement told Agnis that Quoyle was appalled at what his father had done to her, and judging by the small smile on his face as he continued to stare at the photo of her and Irene, her being gay did not bother him.

“Feel free to tell me to mind my own business,” Quoyle began as he handed her back her picture. “But you’re not planning to stay at your shop alone, are you?”

Agnis looked at him, then slowly shook her head.

“Mrs. Bangs?”

She nodded. “How long have you known?”

“That you were gay?” Quoyle asked, and at her nod, replied. “I’ve suspected for some time.”

“And, Mavis?”

“The last time I was at your shop, I noticed the way you two looked at each other,” Quoyle answered, and he reached for his cup of tea.

“It doesn’t bother you?”

He shook his head. “Why should it?”

Agnis felt her eyes mist again but blinked the tears away before they could fall.

“Mrs. Bangs seems nice, and she makes you happy,” Quoyle said. “After everything you’ve been through, you deserve to be happy, Aunt.”

Agnis looked at her nephew again with a new respect in her eyes. He’d earned it.

“So do you. And, it’s time you accept that Petal was not a good wife, or even a good person for that matter. The only good thing to come from your marriage is that little girl asleep upstairs.”

“I know… I know you’re right.”

“You’re a good man, nephew,” she told him, and allowed the growing affection she felt for him to colour her words. “Now you just need to find yourself a good woman, although, I suspect you already have.”

“Wavey.”

“Wavey.” Agnis nodded. “She is a good woman, nephew.”

“Yes, she is.”

“You’d be a fool to let her get away,” Agnis told him. “And, I don’t think you’re a fool.”

“Thank you, Aunt.”

Agnis smiled, and sipped her tea.


	7. Chapter 7

“You’re awfully quiet today.”

At the softly uttered words, Agnis looked up from the foot of the bed as she finished tucking in the end of the quilt, to see Mavis regarding her with concern in her eyes.

“Is everything all right?”

“Yeah.”

She and Mavis were in the small bedroom in the small living area just off the main room of Agnis’ shop, where she planned to stay for the winter months. With business being slow at that particular moment, she’d decided it was a good day to try to finish setting things up, and make the living area a little more liveable.

“Agnis?”

Agnis sighed and sat down on the bed.

“Quoyle knows,” she said quietly after a few moments. “He knows everything. What his father did. Irene. You and me.”

Mavis walked around the bed then sat down beside her. “I take it you didn’t tell him.”

“Not about his father, no.”

“How did he find out?”

“Turns out Bunny’s skinny ghost is not a ghost after all,” Agnis told her. “It was my cousin Nolan. Quoyle spotted him lurking about the house last night, and followed him to his cabin.” She stared unseeingly across the room. “His wife is the one I went to after… when I discovered I was pregnant. She…” 

Mavis reached out, and covered Agnis’ hand with hers.

“I didn’t know he was still alive.”

“I’d heard rumours about there being an old Quoyle still living in one of the coves, but didn’t think they were anything more than that, rumours,” Mavis said. “If I’d known, I would have told you.”

Agnis turned, and met Mavis’ eyes. “I know.”

“So, he told Quoyle?”

“Yeah.”

“What did Quoyle say when he spoke with you?”

A wry smile touched Agnis’ lips. “He told me I should have done to Guy what Silver Melville did to her husband.”

“He’s right, you should have.” Mavis agreed, then looked at her thoughtfully. “You’re upset that he found out the way he did, aren’t you?”

Agnis sighed, and nodded. “I didn’t want him to know. Not about that.”

“I know.”

“He caught me off guard, and I’m afraid I had a minor break down,” Agnis admitted on a whisper, dropping her gaze to the floor. “Not completely, mind you, but more than I am comfortable with.”

“Understandable,” Mavis replied, and stroked her thumb against Agnis’ hand. “What happened after that?”

“He asked if it was possible to move on from something like that. That’s when I showed him the picture of me and Irene, and told him it was.”

“After everything you’ve told me about his wife, I think he really needed to hear that,” Mavis remarked. “Wavey would be a good woman for him.”

“I told him the same thing,” Agnis told her.

Mavis grinned. “Like you, he deserves some happiness. He really is a good man, your nephew.”

“Yes, he is.”

“So, he guessed about us after that?”

Agnis nodded. “I know I should have told him when I told him about Irene, but I…”

“It’s all right, Agnis,” Mavis interrupted her. “This is still new for both of us.”

“Yes it is,” Agnis agreed then raised her head to meet Mavis’ eyes. “I do have feelings for you, Mavis.”

“I know.”

“I’m just not very good at showing them.”

Mavis squeezed Agnis’ hand. “You do better than you think you do.”

Agnis smiled as she turned her hand under Mavis’, laced their fingers together, then used their joined hands to tug Mavis closer. She kissed her gently.

“See,” Mavis murmured softly against Agnis’ lips.

Agnis chuckled, then deepened the kiss. She hummed in approval when Mavis leaned into her, and she found herself on her back on the bed with Mavis half draped over her.

After several long, deep, kisses, Mavis eased her lips from Agnis’, and rose up on her elbow to look down at her.

“Feeling a little better now?”

A warm smile filled Agnis’ face as she gazed up her lover. A swell of deep emotion filled her chest as she nodded. “Yes.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“Mavis?”

“Mmm?” Mavis murmured as she fiddled with the buttons on Agnis’ shirt.

“Are you sure you want to stay here with me? You realize people will start to talk.”

Mavis’ fingers stopped moving, and she lifted her eyes back up to meet Agnis’. “At my age, I no longer care what people think,” she answered, then ventured her own question. “Are you sure you want me to stay here?”

Agnis reached up to tuck a lock of Mavis’ hair behind her ear. “Yes, I’m sure. I wouldn’t have asked you if I wasn’t.”

“And I’m sure I want to be here.” Mavis smiled then resumed releasing the buttons on Agnis’ shirt.

“Good,” Agnis replied then moaned when Mavis slipped her hand inside the flannel shirt, under her cotton tee, and stroked her bare stomach. “Mavis?”

“Yes?”

“Did you lock the downstairs door?”

A slow, sensuous smile touched Mavis’ lips as her hand steadily crept up to curl around Agnis’ cotton covered breast. “Oh yeah…”


	8. Chapter 8

Agnis glanced around the sparse bedroom, checking to see if she’d forgotten anything. She was growing anxious to be on her way to the shop, and more importantly, to Mavis.

She stopped.

Mavis.

Agnis shook her head at the way her heart suddenly skipped a beat at the thought of her lover. The knowledge that someone was waiting for her, someone she cared about, and who cared about her in return, warmed her heart. It’d been a long time since she’d felt this way.

She reached down for her book on the bed next to her suitcase, and picked it up. She lifted the front cover and gazed down at the picture.

“I hate it when you’re right,” she said softly, a small smile playing on her lips, as she traced her finger over Irene’s image. “Thank you, sweetheart.” She gave the picture one last caress then closed the book, and placed it in her suitcase on top of the clothes within.

With one, final look around, and feeling satisfied that she’d packed all she would need for the next couple of months, Agnis closed her suitcase.

“Aunt!” Quoyle shouted from downstairs.

“Coming,” Agnis called out. She shouldered her trusty leather bag, then picked up her case, and left the room.

“Do you have everything you need?” Quoyle asked her as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

“This is the last of it.” Agnis replied. “Everything else is already at the shop.”

“Then I guess we should go before it gets dark,” Quoyle said. “Bunny, time to go!”

Bunny walked out of the kitchen, dragging her feet. “Daddy, do we really have to go?”

“Yeah, honey, we do. I explained it all to you already,” Quoyle answered. “Now, go grab your bag.”

The young girl skulked past them, picked her bag up from the floor, and looked back at them with a scowl on her face.

Quoyle turned to Agnis. “Do you need a hand with that?”

“No, I’m good, thanks,” she replied and took one final look around the old house as Quoyle walked over to pick up his and Bunny’s suitcases from where they sat next to the door. When she heard the door open, she exhaled deeply, then followed her nephew and his daughter outside.

“We could stay with Aunt Agnis over her shop,” Bunny said as she hopped down the steps.

“Barely enough room there for myself,” Agnis remarked as she pulled the door closed behind her, giving it an extra tug and push to insure it was secure.

“You’ll like it at Dennis’ house.”

“No, I won’t.”

Agnis couldn’t help but grin at the exchange. Stubborn to the last, her great-niece, Agnis thought to herself. “She’s a Quoyle all right,” she chuckled as she made her way to her pickup. Opening the passenger door, Agnis placed her suitcase on the floor, and her bag on the seat then closed the door, and walked around to the driver’s side.

“Aunt!”

About to climb into her truck, she stopped, and looked over her shoulder to see Quoyle standing in the open door of the station wagon. He leaned over the roof the car when he realized he had her attention.

“Please give my regards to Mrs. Bangs.”

Agnis met his eyes across the short distance between the two vehicles, and saw nothing but genuine warmth in his gaze. He truly was happy for her. She smiled and nodded. “I will.”

He smiled back. “Drive safe, Aunt.”

“You, too, nephew.”

~~*TSN*~~ ~~* TSN *~~

Agnis put the truck in park, and turned off the engine. Peering through the windshield, she couldn’t help the smile that played at the corners of her mouth at seeing the light on in the second story window.

The living area of the shop.

The living area she would be sharing with Mavis.

She felt a rush of warmth at the thought.

‘So, then what are you still doing out here?’ Agnis thought with a grin, and pulled the keys from the ignition, and climbed out of the truck. She quickly retrieved her bags, then entered the building that would be her home for the winter months.

After making sure the door was locked, Agnis made her way up the stairs, and through the dimly lit work area to what she and Mavis had affectionately started calling ‘the loft’.

She stopped in the doorway, and was greeted by the sight of Mavis standing in front of the stove in the little kitchenette.

“I thought we were going to order in?”

Mavis looked back over her shoulder, and shrugged. “We were. I got all my things moved in faster than I anticipated.” She turned back to the stove. “So I thought I’d make myself useful, and make dinner while I waited for you to come home.”

Home.

The word wrapped itself around Agnis’ heart. It’d been a long time since she’d felt at home anywhere.

And yet, here… now… in this small two room apartment, on the same floor as her business, she felt at home. She wasn’t even completely settled in, but here… with Mavis… it felt more welcoming, more like a home, than the house she was currently spending thousands of dollars trying to fix up.

“And, I like to cook.”

“Which means we won’t starve,” Agnis told her, as she walked over to stand beside her. “Because I don’t.”

Mavis laughed and shot Agnis a smile. “But you do dishes.”

“I do dishes,” Agnis agreed with a grin as she leaned over the stove and took a sniff. “Smells good.”

“Thank you,” Mavis said. “Bring your bags into the bedroom. This will be ready any moment.”

“All right,” Agnis nodded. She leaned in to press a quick kiss to Mavis’ cheek, then headed for their bedroom.

~~*TSN*~~ ~~* TSN *~~

Agnis glanced up from her knitting as the storm continued to rage outside. Lightning brightened the bedroom in flashes, and thunder crashed loudly as the wind and rain pelted the windows.

Sitting beside her, in their bed, Mavis looked up from the book she was reading at the same time. She tugged her sweater closed a little more, as if the cold of the storm was somehow breaching the building, and giving her a chill.

They were comfortable in their silence, both enjoying the sounds of nature’s fury, and simply being together. 

After several more rows, Agnis put her knitting on her bedside table.

“Tired?” Mavis asked quietly.

“No,” Agnis replied as she rolled onto her side to face Mavis. Propped up on her elbow, she reached out and tugged on Mavis’ sweater.

A knowing smirk played about Mavis’ lips, and she peered over the top of her reading glasses, as she lowered her book.

“Read to me,” Agnis requested softly, as her fingers began to unbutton the flannel pyjama top Mavis wore. “Whichever poem you’re about to read next… read it to me.”

Mavis smiled, and raised her book. A soft, amused hum escaped her.

“What?”

“I like my body when it is with your body. It is so quite a new thing,” Mavis began to read.

Agnis chuckled, and resumed unbuttoning Mavis’ top.

Mavis nodded, and continued. “Muscles better and nerves more. I like your body. I like what it…” she gasped.

“…does.” Agnis finished the sentence as her fingers circled Mavis’ nipples, causing them to tighten. “I like its hows,” she spoke the next line softly as she slid her hand beneath her lover.

“I like to feel the spine of your body and its bones,” Mavis took over again as Agnis trailed her fingers down the centre of her back. She trembled slightly. “And the trembling-firm-smooth ness and which I will again and again and again kiss.”

A low moan escaped Mavis when Agnis lowered her head and nuzzled her stomach, her lips raining gentle kisses to the soft skin as she stroked Mavis’ side.

“I like kissing this and that of you…” 

Agnis slid her hand lower, beneath the blankets, and inside Mavis’ pyjama bottoms. Mavis’ voice became almost breathless as she resumed her recitation. “I like, slowly stroking the, shocking fuzz of your electric furr… mmm… Agnis…”

“That’s not in the poem,” Agnis grinned, as she stroked Mavis’ sex.

“It should be,” Mavis moaned when Agnis pressed two fingers inside her. “…Agnis…”

“Finish the poem,” she told her in a quiet voice as she began to stroke her fingers in and out of Mavis’ pussy.

“I like, slowly stroking the, shocking fuzz of your electric furr,” Mavis reread the line. “And what-is-it comes over parting flesh…” Her voice barely above a whisper as she continued, “And eyes big love-crumbs, and possibly I like the thrill of under me you quite so new.”

Agnis shifted closer, half-covering Mavis’ body with her own. She kept her hand between Mavis’ legs, kept her fingers moving inside her. She grinned when Mavis suddenly closed the book, tossed it onto her night table, then grasped Agnis’ face and drew her down for a hungry kiss.

“Agnis!” Mavis gave a surprised cry against Agnis’ mouth when she came suddenly.

Agnis gentled the kiss as she eased Mavis down from her release. When the quivering around her fingers lessened, Agnis withdrew them, and rested her hand on Mavis’ stomach. She raised her head to look down at the other woman.

“Agnis,” Mavis panted softly.

“Yes?”

“We need to get out of these pyjamas.”

Agnis grinned.

The storm continued to rage outside, and the two lovers matched its intensity as they made love long into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The poem Mavis recites - I Like My Body When It Is With Your Body by ee cummings


	9. Chapter 9

Agnis stood just off to the side, watching as Mavis gave Edna Buggit a comforting hug. “I’m sorry, Edna.” She heard her lover tell the other woman.

“It was the Buggit curse,” Edna was saying as Mavis released her, and stepped back to stand beside Agnis.

Their fingers brushed lightly.

Agnis glanced at Mavis, and a warm, peaceful feeling wound about her heart.

Neither one of them were comfortable with wakes or funerals. Both had endured losses too great, too personal, and gatherings like this brought back too many unhappy memories for them.

Their fingers touched again. Their arms pressed together.

Small, comforting gestures, but they were enough. 

“I’ve known since the day I married him, that his would happen,” Mrs. Buggit continued. “I asked him not to go out yesterday. I knew there was a storm coming,” she said, then glanced beside her when her daughter-in-law, Beety joined them. “I told you, didn’t I, Beety? I told you that Jack shouldn’t have gone out?”

“Yes, you did, mom,” Beety replied as she slipped her arm about Edna’s shoulders. “Would you ladies excuse us? We need to…” she gestured sadly about the room.

“Of course,” Agnis nodded understandingly.

Beety gave her a small smile before she led her mother-in-law away.

“Let’s go see if we can find a place to sit down,” Mavis suggested.

“Good idea,” Agnis agreed.

They moved slowly through the throng of mourners, and after several minutes, realized there were no seats to be had.

“Maybe an empty corner instead?”

~~*TSN*~~ ~~* TSN *~~

“I still can’t believe it. Jack’s alive.”

“Neither can I,” Agnis responded, her attention focused on the road, and the car in front of her.

She and Mavis were in the truck, following behind Quoyle in the station wagon, on their way to Quoyle Point.

“I am relieved for Edna, however.”

“So am I.”

After Jack Buggit had miraculously come back from the dead, Quoyle had found her - at Bunny’s insistence - and told her about the little girl’s dream that the green house was gone. 

Agnis had seen that her nephew did not believe his daughter, but the older woman knew better. She’d seen the change in Bunny since they’d arrived in Killick-Claw, and knew that her great-niece was one of the souls sensitive to the restlessness of the area.

She’d asked Bunny to tell her what happened. The relieved, grateful, look in Bunny’s eyes when she realized her aunt believed her had made Agnis smile.

“Do you really believe the house is gone?”

Agnis nodded. “Bunny’s been sensitive to the house since we arrived. So, yeah, I believe her when she says she saw it go.”

“What will you do then?”

“I dunno.”

Several minutes of silence passed between them as they drove along.

“The old house has never, truly, felt like home to me,” Agnis told her in a quiet voice. “Not when I was little, and even less so after what happened with Guy.” She flipped on the wipers as it began to rain softly. “I feel more at home in the loft.”

“So, do I.”

Agnis glanced over at Mavis. The honest affection she saw in her blue eyes took Agnis’ breath away. She reached her hand out across the seat between them, and was pleased when Mavis took it in hers.

Their fingers laced together as Agnis turned the truck onto the small dirt road leading up to Quoyle Point.

~~*TSN*~~ ~~* TSN *~~

Agnis stared at what remained of her family’s home.

The house had stood on that cliff for more than a hundred years, and weathered many a storm… but it’d finally managed to break free of the cables holding it back, and had disappeared into the ocean below.

“It’s all right,” she told Quoyle as he walked over to stand beside her, and placed his arm about her shoulders. “Worse things have happened. To both of us.”

She watched Bunny move about the ruins.

“Maybe one day we’ll build a summer house out here.”

“Summer?” Quoyle commented disbelievingly as he removed his arm and looked around.

Agnis bit back a laugh, and let a small smile play across her lips instead.

Bunny looked at her from the top of the stone steps that still remained. “Do they have summer here?”

“Oh, you’ll know it’s summer when the Partridge Berries are out.”

“And, we can make Partridge Berry Duff, and Sweet Berry Okie,” Agnis heard Wavey say.

“Will you show me how?”

“I will, yeah,” Wavey told the little girl. “I will.”

Agnis watched Bunny smile, and for the first time since meeting her great-niece, she felt a sense of peace settle over the child. She smiled to herself. Wavey was indeed good for her nephew, and his daughter.

When the kids, Bunny and young Herry Prowse, began to run around, Agnis slowly made her way over to where the vehicles were parked.

To where Mavis waited, leaning up against the side of her truck with her arms crossed over her chest. She’d opted to wait in the truck; not wanting to intrude on what she said was a family moment.

“After all these years, I can’t believe it’s gone,” Mavis commented when Agnis finally reached her. “Maybe it’s a sign.”

Agnis nodded. “Maybe it is,” she agreed, as she copied Mavis’ pose, and leaned back against the truck, their shoulders touching.

A million thoughts whirled through Agnis’ mind as she stood next to her lover; the two of them staring out in silence at what was now, an even more incredible view.

“I’ve been thinking,” Agnis began. “You asked earlier what I was going to do.”

“Yes.”

“One of the first things I did when I moved back to Killick-Claw last year, was to insure the old place,” Agnis said. “So, I expect to get a pretty penny back from the insurance company.”

“Good move.”

Agnis nodded. “With that in mind, I thought I would buy the building the shop’s in. I know that Will Grover is looking to sell, and we could get it for a song.”

“Yes, you could,” Mavis agreed.

“The downstairs is nice and big. We could move the work area down there, which would make a lot more sense, and then enlarge the loft for us. Give us more living space, and really make it into a home.”

Mavis turned her head to look at Agnis.

“I realized on the drive up here that even if the old place hadn’t blown away, that there was no way I could move back out here. I like living in the loft, and I like living with you.” Agnis tilted her head to meet Mavis’ gaze. “I know it was only supposed to be temporary for the winter months, but… what do you say about making it permanent, and moving in with me for good.”

“Agnis, I…”

“Aunt!”

Agnis sighed.

Quoyle had lousy timing.

She turned to see her nephew, and the others, heading their way.

“Aunt, I think it’s time we head back to town,” Quoyle said as they got closer. “The kids are getting hungry, and it’s starting to get dark.”

Agnis nodded, sighed again, then pushed herself away from the truck.

She stopped when Mavis’ hand caught hers, and at the gentle squeeze of her fingers, she looked up to see the other woman smiling softly at her.

“We’ll talk later.”


	10. Chapter 10

Standing in the doorway of their bedroom, Agnis watched as Mavis began to change for bed.

“You’ve been quiet since we left the point,” she said, walking into the room.

“I’ve been thinking,” Mavis replied. “About what you suggested.”

“I figured as much.”

Mavis sat on end of the bed, and looked up at Agnis as she stopped in front of her. “Are you sure? I mean, really sure that is what you want to do, Agnis?” She asked. “With that money, you could relocate anywhere you want.”

“Would you come with me if I did?”

Mavis bit her bottom lip, and Agnis found herself holding her breath as she waited for Mavis’ answer.

“Yes,” she answered softly. “I would.”

Agnis exhaled in relief, as she sat down beside her lover. “So, does that mean…”

A large smile slowly found its way to Mavis’ lips as she nodded. “I would love to make this permanent. Here, and with you.”

Agnis’ grinned. She reached out to cup Mavis’ cheek, and drew her closer as she leaned in.

Their mouths met in a tender, loving kiss.

Little by little the kiss deepened, and the two of them tumbled back onto the bed. They slowly inched their way to the middle of the bed, laughing softly at each other as they moved in a tangle of arms and legs.

“I love you, Agnis,” Mavis whispered.

Agnis gazed down at the woman beneath her, her lover, and felt her heart skip a beat. Irene had been the great love of her life, and after losing her, she’d never thought she’d ever love anyone that way again. But as she continued to stare at Mavis, Agnis realized that she truly did have feelings for her.

Deep feelings.

They weren’t the same as what she’d felt for Irene, of course, and they wouldn’t be. They were two different women. But they were there, and they were real, and they were intense.

This was not just some fling. Mavis was not just a warm body to curl up with to ward off the chill and the loneliness. This was real. Mavis was real.

Agnis’ eyes welled with tears as she realized that she was, in fact, deeply in love with Mavis Bangs.

She lowered her head and kissed Mavis with all the feelings that were suddenly swelling within her. 

As they began to slowly remove each other’s clothes, Agnis thought back to something she’d told Quoyle the day they’d arrived in Killick-Claw about life in this part of Newfoundland.

_“It’s a place like no other,” she’d told him. “The people who came here came by accident. Those that stayed learned strange things can happen; omens… and restless spirits. Magic…”_

Strange things did happen. 

At sixty-six years old, Agnis had, not only finally made peace with everything that had happened in her past, she’d found herself in love for only the second time in her life.

Yes, strange things can, and did, happen.

Their clothes gone, they slipped under the blankets, and as they began to make love, a tender smile spread across Agnis’ mouth.

Framing her lover’s face in her hands, Agnis brushed her lips over Mavis’, and whispered softly, “I love you, too, Mavis.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the beta, Pers! I appreciate it VERY much!!


End file.
